Sunday, July 4, 2010

If I were a betting man, I would have most certainly put a fiver down that the boys would have a kick-ass time at the July 4th blowout festival. The problem with betting is that you first have to have money. Luckily, Angie's school took care of that for us. Thanks Dan!

Dan the Man had organized us VIP passes that included easy access onto the base, front row parking, and enough food and drink vouchers to keep all of us fat, dumb and happy. The boys were ecstatic and my jelly belly came out to say hi; I don't know which one that would make Angie, but it doesn't matter.

Apparently it did matter and Angie 'suggested' that I go celebrate independently. She took the easy one and left me with the gooftards.

I am truly amazed that this picture even turned out; the still shot does not give justice to how spastically they were buzzing about. And this was pre-soda.

We met up with Angie and the wild one at the party tent. With Peter and David, it was not until just recently that they would even think about venturing more than five feet from us, especially in crowded places. Tom did not even say ba-bye when he decided to abandon the family.

I saw him bolting and decided to follow him, curious to see just how far he would go without looking back. He zigzagged his way through the crowd and made his way from one end of the parade field to the other and did not look back once. His inner compass had apparently hijacked his sensibility and guided his selfish curiosity to the kiddy slide that he had screamed and pointed at when we walked in.

As Tommy satisfied his primal sliding urges, buddies 1 and 2 were busy guttering the lanes of the bowling stand.

After so much emotional build-up on the whole 'strike' thing, I finally caved in.

That's right. A full assault air-strike balloon, just for Destructo Dave. Man I love America. My patriotic thoughts of annihilation were interrupted by a mean-looking roadie wearing a doo-rag.

He informed us that the show would be starting soon and commanded us to sit down. Show? what show? For a change, Angie actually obeyed instructions.

As we waited for the mystery show to start, we ran in to Hatch and Sandy. I don't know what the hell Jack did to Sandy, but I'm sure that she's thrilled that I'm using this shot.

David was flashing his patented 'go away' gesture to the Papa-razzi, which normally indicates that he is up to no good. As any good gossip hound, I ignored the signs and continued snapping shots of the miscreants as they waited in line for the show. What show?!

David looked like he was coaching Peter. By 'coaching' I of course mean 'mischievous advice', but I hadn't yet figure out their diabolical plan. It became a bit clearer when Peter started chucking balls at a scantily clad chick wearing a wet shirt. I didn't fully understand why David was giggling away as he continued 'coaching' Peter, but I was curious enough to watch on.

I guess bowling isn't the only sport that Peter sucks at. After missing all ten throws, David's coaching advice finally became clear.

I watched the whole ordeal from the sidelines and I must say that I really froze when honest Pete raced up to the dunking booth just after missing. I kept thinking 'there is no way that kid is going to cheat and manually dunk the poor girl who can't afford clothes into the cold water'. David's gleeful laughter confirmed that I need to rethink my thinking.

The dunkee was rightfully livid, but it was probably more aimed at Peter's insane cackling than getting unfairly dunked. The boy would not stop; he was cracking up so bad that he could not even walk. He was clutching his belly and had dropped to one knee. I have never seen a six-year old so content with himself. My boys constantly do things that I have never seen before, though, so overall - not a big shocker. After being asked not-so-politely to leave the dunk tank, we decided to round up the animals and head back to the ranch. We went find Tom, who had again run away from his family in search of slides. Angie snatched up the slider and asked him if he was having fun.

I'm guessing yes, but just to be sure, I watched his reaction as Angie told Tommy to wave bye-bye to everyone because we were leaving.

After confirming that he really, really wanted to stay, we packed up our stuff and headed home. If I were a betting man, I would have most certainly put a fiver down that the car ride home would not be a quiet one. I should really start betting.--------------------------------------------Ladder Talk:
1) What was the best part of your day?
Peter: When I got a football balloon.
David: As I had a balloon.

2) What was the worst part of your day?
Peter: As we couldn't play any more games at the party.
David: When I not more can play with the Happy Birthday America.

3) What would you like to do tomorrow?
Peter: Play with my friends in kindergarten.
David: Play kindergarten with Peter.